As over 108,000 attendees from 208 countries filed into the echoing halls of Mobile World Congress last week, I was reminded of the old First World War chant, sung by the soldiers on the front lines in a tone of heavy irony: “We’re here, because we’re here, because we’re here!”
Every year, Mobile World Congress positions itself as the world’s meeting place for the Mobile industry. That’s OK. I get it. But every year, I increasingly wonder, whether it’s really still all about the “mobile world” after all. The fact is that MWC is slowly but surely losing its reason for existing as a mobile-focused event.
A 20 minute taxi drive away from the Gran Fira of MWC is the strangely-named 4YFN (“Four Years From Now”). This conference resembles your average future-focused startup conference these days: there’s a pitching stage, a main stage for speakers and panels to pontificate, an exhibition hall — the usual. But although claiming to attract a healthy 20,000 people, it’s oddly removed from Mobile World Congress, even though anyone who has an entrance pass to MWC also has full access to 4YFN. All the devices which are unveiled at MWC, will eventually run the apps and cloud services which the startups down the road are producing. And yet, they are stuck back in the city.
I hope the rumours are true that next year they will co-locate 4YFN in a new, large, annexe at the main MWC exhibition area.For slowly but surely, the issues that are discussed at MWC, are gradually resembling the solutions and startups showcased at 4YFN.
Source: Let’s face it, Mobile World Congress isn’t about the mobile any more | TechCrunch